Milwaukee Bucks: 3 lofty goals for Brook Lopez during 2021-22 season
By Dalton Sell
The scrutiny surrounding Brook Lopez reached all-time levels during the 2020-21 regular season with the Milwaukee Bucks.
As the Bucks emphasized experimenting with lineups, most notably small-ball, Lopez was often viewed as the odd man out, finding himself on the sidelines in key moments. Due to this newfound expandability, some even clamored for him to be traded so the team could continue running their smaller lineups more frequently.
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However, following the team’s storied title run, those fans are quiet right now. Lopez proved how crucial he was for the Bucks as he played a massive role in ending their 50-year title drought this past season.
The 13-year veteran has finally added an NBA championship to his resume, and he will unquestionably be back with the team next season. With that being said, here are three goals for the big man to achieve as he returns to Milwaukee for the 2021-22 season with a title to defend.
Goal No. 1 – Brook Lopez should look to earn his second All-Defensive selection with the Milwaukee Bucks
Before signing with the Bucks in the 2018 offseason (which has developed into one of their best signings this past decade), Lopez was most well-known for being a lethal scoring threat in the post. Rightfully so, as he is the all-time leading scorer for the Brooklyn Nets, but since coming to Milwaukee, the big man has redefined his game to become a formidable threat on the defensive end as well.
With head coach Mike Budenholzer emphasizing defense and utilizing Lopez’s sizeable stature near the basket, the Bucks have become one of the best teams at defending the paint over the past three seasons. In 2019-20, Lopez had a phenomenal season defensively, being awarded his first-ever All-Defensive nomination. Averaging a career-best 2.4 blocks per game, he was more than deserving of it as the Bucks boasted one of the league’s most dominant defenses in part to his efforts close to the hoop.
Lopez ultimately missed the All-Defense cut this past season with the Bucks, but his numbers were still captivating. According to NBA.com/stats, the big man contested the most shots in the league by a wide margin during the regular season with 1,185, the next closest name on the list being Rudy Gobert, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who had 1,051. Contests are not the flashiest stat there is, but these numbers perfectly showcase how active he was on that side of things this past season. His block numbers were down to just 1.5 per game, but that is still a solid enough number for him to be a solid presence down low.
Despite the vast abundance of talented players at the center position in Gobert, Joel Embiid, and Bam Adebayo, Lopez could unquestionably reinsert himself into the conversation if he can put together another fantastic campaign defensively. Although he will sometimes be put in a bind as the team continues playing with different schemes on the defensive end, there is no denying the impact Lopez can have on defense with his shot-blocking and contesting ability.